Board mounting to support system

ABSTRACT

A board mounting system comprises an elongated board, a pair of end caps for capping opposite ends of the board and a support for supporting the board. The end cap provides a decorative end-cap for finishing the board and secure the board with the support.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a board mounting system and inparticular a system in which one or more resin boards are mounted to asupport for the boards.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the past, a conventional board has had a wooden construction. Woodenboards are mounted to support stringers or the like by nails or screwspassing through the boards into the support.

In order to make a conventional set of wooden stairs, a wooden riserassembly is first constructed and then the horizontal tread boards arenailed or screwed to the riser construction.

With the prior art construction as described above even if the stairassembly is small for portability purposes it is still relatively heavyand awkward to move around. Furthermore, the wood used in the stairassembly is subject to deterioration. If one or more of the componentsof the assembly does deteriorate this generally necessitates areplacement of the entire assembly. The reason for this is that thescrews or nails used to put the assembly together are relativelypermanent making it awkward to remove the damaged component. If thedamaged component is for example a stair tread and the screw or nailused to hold the tread to the riser is removed the riser may not standup to a further screw or nail getting embedded in its surface to receivea new tread. If the old screw or nail hole is used to refit the tread itmay not have sufficient positive hold to keep the assembly together. Onthe other hand, if a new hole penetrates the riser assembly it may causea cracking of the wood material which has already been weakened by theexisting hole.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The present invention provides a board mounting system in which at leastone board is secured to a board support by novel means according to thepresent invention. That novel means is in the form of board end capswhich not only provide decorative finishing for the opposite ends of theboard but which also provide a securing element which cooperates betweenthe board and the support for securing the entire assembly together.

Through the provision of the end caps described above, the presentinvention is designed to take advantage of the most up to date materialsnow available in the marketplace for forming a board mounting system.According to a preferred embodiment of the invention the board itselfhas a generally hollow resin construction made in an extrusion process.The board is cut from a longer length of a resin extrusion leaving theboard with substantially open unfinished ends.

The end caps, which also preferably have a resin construction, providethe board ends with a finished appearance and further include securingmeans, which cooperates, with securing means on the actual support. Theend caps after fitting with the opposite ends of the board then secureto the board support for locking the entire assembly together.

As will be appreciated, a board mounting system when made in accordancewith the preferred embodiment as described immediately above isrelatively light in weight, is extremely weather proof and can bereadily assembled, disassembled and then reassembled should repair ormaintenance to the system be required.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above as well as other advantages and features of the presentinvention will be described in greater detail according to the preferredembodiments of the present invention in which;

FIG. 1 is perspective view looking down on a board mounting system usedfor forming portable steps in accordance with a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the portable steps shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the components of the assemblyof FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the board end caps fromthe assembly of FIGS. 1 through 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view showing the mounting of the end capof FIG. 2 after being fitted to the board end to one of the risersupports of the assembly of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 6 is a front view showing a partial section of the mounting of thelower tread to the riser of the assembly of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 7 is a partially sectioned view of the mounting of a stair tread toa riser according to a further preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 8 and 9 are enlarged perspective views showing end caps forfitting boards to stair risers according to yet further preferredembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a board mounting system wherein thatsystem comprises a tray mounted to the side surface of the support forthe tray according to yet another preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged perspective view showing one of the supports forthe tray of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a sectional view through the tray of FIG. 10 looking from theend of the tray; and

FIG. 13 is a top view of the tray mounting system of FIG. 10.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION ACCORDING TO THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THEPRESENT INVENTION IN WHICH

FIG. 1 shows in accordance with a preferred embodiment a set of portablestairs generally indicated at 1. These stairs can have many differentapplications only one of which is for use with a portable spa. Thestairs which are strong but light in weight and also extremely weatherresistant are at a height that they can be placed against the sidewallof the spa. Obviously, they can be placed at any desired location alongthe spa wall and provide easy in and out access to the spa.

Turning now to the construction of stairs 1, they comprise a pluralityof boards 3 with a pair of the boards being held side by side with oneanother by end caps 5. The assembly of the boards and the end capscomprise an individual stair tread. In the FIG. 1 embodiment there aretwo stair treads shown and these stair treads are mounted to a stairriser generally indicated at 7. The stair riser comprises a first riserportion 9 at the front lower level of the stairs and a second higherriser portion 11 to the rear of the stairs.

As is well shown in the FIG. 3 exploded view, there are two of therisers 7 one located to the opposite ends of the stair tread. As will bedescribed later in greater detail the stair risers are, on their own,not stable in an upright position but when assembled with the overallset of stairs 1 they are held upright by the stair treads. The assemblyis then reinforced with a back bracing generally indicated at 12. Theback bracing is best seen in FIG. 2 of the drawings.

Turning more specifically to FIGS. 3 and 4 of the drawings each of theindividual boards 3 in this preferred embodiment has a resinconstruction. The boards are all identical. They are all formed in anextrusion process and each board is cut from a longer length ofcontinuously extruded material. As will be seen in FIG. 3 each boardprior to mounting to the stairs has a substantially hollow interiorconstruction. The boards as are known in the extrusion industry comprisea plurality of open cells with spaced apart vertical interior wallswhich provide load bearing support for the boards.

As can be appreciated by the above description and by a review of FIG. 3the boards although capable of supporting the weight of a personstanding on them are extremely light weight compared to for example, aconventional wooden board. Furthermore, they are much more durable andlong lasting.

As is also known in the extrusion industry, the boards may be providedwith a top surface embossing so that they are relatively slip resistant.This is extremely beneficial when the boards are used in the spaapplication as earlier noted. The particular resin material used to formeach board is one which has outdoor weathering resistance withrelatively little expansion and contraction under extreme weatherchanges. Such resins are well known to those skilled in the art.

The end caps 5 best seen in FIG. 4 of the drawing are also preferablymade of a resin material. They are best formed in a molding process.Unlike the boards the end caps have a solid more rigid construction.This construction is well suited to perform the various differentfunctions achieved by the end caps. Specifically, the end caps provide aside by side trapping of adjacent boards 3. They also provide adecorative end finishing for the otherwise open end of the boards. As afurther and particularly important feature they provide a mounting meansfor mounting the boards to the risers.

As shown in FIG. 4 of the drawings, each of the end caps hassubstantially U shaped channel construction. This channel constructionis formed by a sidewall generally indicated at 22. This sidewallincludes a main wall portion 22 a and shorter wall portions 22 bextending at right angles to wall portion 22 a. As seen for example, inFIGS. 1, 2 and 5 of the drawings wall portion 22 a spans and covers thealigned open ends of adjacent boards to one end of each stair tread. Thewall portions 22 b wrap around the outer sidewalls of the side by sideboards.

Also provided in the U shaped channel construction of end cap 5 is a toplip 21 and a bottom wall 27. The top lip 21 locates over the top surfaceof the two boards 3 while the bottom wall 27 is positioned over thebottom surface of the two boards for each end cap at each end of thestair tread.

The above combination of fittings provide an extremely effectivecovering and trapping for the side by side boards at each end of thestair tread.

As will be seen from FIG. 4 of the drawings the bottom wall 27 of endcap 5 has a greater front to back depth than then top lip 21. Thisincreased depth is needed for a number of reasons. Firstly, the bottomwall 27 provides a forming location for a pair of L shaped clip members29. Each of these clip members includes a vertical leg portion 31 and alonger horizontal leg portion 33. Horizontal leg portion 33 is spacedfrom the bottom wall by a gap or recess 35.

The bottom wall 35 also provides a mounting location for mechanicalfasteners 37 which thread up through the bottom wall and into the boardmaterial near the end of each of the boards as to be described later indetail.

Each of the stair risers 7 also preferably has a molded resinconstruction. Risers 7 in the preferred embodiment are made from thesame or similar solid rigid formulation as that used in forming the endcaps 5. As such, each of the risers is light in weight while beingextremely sturdy.

Each of the riser sections 9 and 11 have an identical top surfaceindicated at 41 with respect to riser section 11. This top surfacecomprises a flat top wall 43 with thinner top wall portions 43 a. Ushaped wall portions 45 extend down from the main top wall beneaththinner wall portions 43 a. This leaves a gap 47 directly below wallportions 43 a.

The somewhat corrugated shaping of the overall top surface 41 asdescribed immediately above makes it extremely rigid and durable.

As earlier described, each of the end caps 5 is provided on its bottomwall with clip 29. The horizontal leg 33 of this clip slides beneaththinned wall portion 43 a on the top surface of the riser. Wall portion43 a fits into the gap 35 of clip 29.

In mounting each of the treads to each riser section the two boards 3are placed side by side with one another. An end cap 5 is fitted overthe aligned ends of the boards at each end of the tread. While fittingthe end caps over the boards clips 29 on the bottoms of the end caps areslid into the clip receptors formed by wall portions 43 a and gaps 47 onthe top of the riser. From here the mechanical fastening elements 37typically in the form of self tapping screws are fitted up through thebottom wall of the screws into the end caps into the boards. The undersurface mounting of the end caps ensures that the screws are hiddenduring normal use of the stairs.

As will be appreciated from the description above the end caps provide amale to female interlock of the boards with the risers. The fitting ofthe mechanical fasteners 37 into the fixed length boards prevents theinterlock between the end caps and the risers from separating i.e.,prevents the end caps from pulling laterally off of the riser.

In the event that any of the above described components in the way of aboard, an end cap or a riser should need replacement then it is simply amatter of removing the mechanical fasteners. This then allows the endcaps to be pulled out of position for dismantling the entire assembly.

After the stairs have been built in the manner described above thebracing element 12 is fitted to the back of the riser section 11. Thisprevents the taller riser legs from tilting inwardly or splayingoutwardly beneath the stair tread. With this overall construction theset of stairs 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is extremely stable.

FIG. 6 of the drawings shows a slightly modified stair assemblygenerally indicated at 51. This stair assembly is substantially the sameas stair assembly 1. The only difference between the two stairassemblies is that the assembly of FIG. 6 uses longer boards 3 a. Theriser 7 to each end of the assemblies are identical as are the end caps5. However, when working with the longer boards 3 a assembly 51 of FIG.6 includes an additional center riser 7. This center riser providessupport against downward bending of the boards.

The center riser 7 is identical to the earlier described end risers 7.However, rather than securing to the boards by means of end capsmechanical fasteners preferably in the way of a self tapping screw arescrewed directly up through the top wall 43 of each tier of the riserinto the boards for each riser section.

FIG. 7 shows a riser section 61 which is only slightly different fromwhat has already been described. The actual riser supports 7 areidentical to the earlier described risers. The boards 3 are alsoidentical. However, the end caps 63 shown in FIG. 7 are slightlydifferent from end caps 5. More specifically, end cap 63 include bottomclips 65 which face outwardly of the end caps in contrast to the earlierdescribed inwardly facing clips 29. The clips 65 still slide over thesmall diameter top wall portions 43 a of risers 7. However, they slidefrom the inside outwardly rather than from the outside inwardly as foundin the earlier embodiment. When the entire stair assembly of FIG. 7 isin its final form including the bracing 12 the bracing prevents the twospaced apart risers from separating away from one another. This in turnmaintains the interlock of the end caps with the risers. As such, nofurther mechanical securing elements such as mechanical fasteners 37 areneeded to prevent riser assembly 61 from dismantling without firsttaking off the bracing 12.

FIGS. 8 and 9 of the drawings show slightly different interconnectionsfor end caps to risers according to further preferred features of theinvention. In FIG. 8 end cap 71 which fits to board 3 in the identicalmanner to that earlier described includes bottom opening 72. Riser 73includes upwardly projecting posts 75. These posts fit into the undersurface openings in the end cap. The interlocking of the post with theend caps prevents lateral shifting of the end caps relative to theriser. Separate mechanical fastening elements may be used to preventvertical separation of the end caps from the riser.

In FIG. 9 end cap 81 includes downwardly extending posts 83. These postshave barb shaped heads as seen in FIG. 9.

Riser 85 includes top openings 87. The barb shaped posts 83 of end cap81 press down and lock into the openings 87 in the riser.

The FIG. 9 set up again has horizontal interlock between the end capsand the riser. The barb shaping of the posts 83 further provides avertical separation interlock of the end caps from the riser. Thisvertical interlock is more than sufficient to hold the assembly togetherif the stairs are picked up by the treads. The vertical interlock canhowever be separated by deliberately placing some type of a prying toolbetween the end cap and the top of the riser.

In each of the assemblies described above the board mounting system isin the form of a portable set of stairs. FIGS. 10 through 13 show afurther board mounting system generally indicated at 91. In this boardmounting system which forms a portable tray boards 3 are once again heldside to side with one another by end caps 5. The end caps mount theboards to a pair of board supports 93. Board supports 93 includevertical flanges 101 which secure to a support surface 95.

In this embodiment the support surface is the sidewall of the earlierreferred to portable spa.

The portable spa itself is likely to have a circular configuration. Itmay well include a protruding lip 96 as shown in FIG. 13. In order tohave the tray formed by the boards 3 adjustable to match to the curvesurface of the spa the supports 93 have a specially designed top surface95. This top surface includes thin surface regions 97 with underlyinggaps 99. The horizontal legs 33 of the clips 29 on the under surface ofend caps 5 fit over surface regions 97 into the gaps 99. However,surface regions 97 and the gaps 99 are elongated relative to the cliplegs 33. As such, the clips are laterally adjustable relative tosupports 93. This allows the tray formed by the encapsulated boards tobe shifted inwardly and outwardly relative to the sidewall lip 96. Thelaterally adjustable positioning of the tray enables it to be positionedsuch that the maximum surface area of the tray is exposed below the lipwithout leaving a gap between the lip and the tray.

As to be appreciated from the description above numerous different typesof supports for receiving the boards and end caps can be used inaccordance with the present invention. The key to the invention lies inthe fact that the end caps which can be used with either a single boardor multiple boards provide a finishing element for the one or moreboards and also provide a means of connecting the board or boards to theboard support.

Although various preferred embodiments of the present invention havebeen described in detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in theart that variations may be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention or the scope of the appended claims.

1. A board mounting system comprising an elongated board, a pair of endcaps for capping opposite ends of said board and a support forsupporting the board, said end caps providing a decorative end finishingfor the board and having securing means which secures to and mounts theboard with the support.
 2. A board mounting system as claimed in claim 1wherein the end caps and the support have cooperating male to femaleinterlocks for securing the end caps and the board to the support.
 3. Aboard mounting system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the end caps fitacross and wrap around the opposite ends of the board.
 4. A boardmounting system as claimed in claim 3 wherein the end caps include amain center section and shorter arm sections projecting at right anglesto said main center section, all of said sections including top andbottom lips which locate to top and bottom sides of the board.
 5. Aboard mounting system as claimed in claim 4 wherein said board has anextruded plastic construction and is a cut section from a longer lengthof extruded board, the opposing ends of said cut section beingsubstantially open and being covered by said end caps.
 6. A boardmounting system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said support holds theboard in a ground elevated position.
 7. A board mounting system asclaimed in claim 6 wherein said support comprises a stair riser.
 8. Aboard mounting system comprising at least two elongated boards, a pairof end caps, said end caps extending across and wrapping around oppositeends of said boards to hold the boards together as a unit parallel withone another, and a support for supporting the boards, said end capsproviding a decorative end finishing for the boards and having securingmeans which secures to and mounts said boards with the support.
 9. Aboard mounting system as claimed in claim 8 wherein each of said endcaps is of a U shape and has a channel construction with top and bottomlips to upper and lower sides of the channel construction.
 10. A boardmounting system as claimed in claim 9 wherein said end caps hold saidboards edge to edge with one another.
 11. A board mounting system asclaimed in claim 8 wherein said end caps and said support havecooperating male to female interlocks which slide together to mount theend caps to the support, the end caps being attached to the boards whichprevents to end caps from releasing from the support.
 12. A boardmounting system as claimed in claim 8 wherein said support is secured toa curved surface of an object, said end caps being adjustable laterallyof said support to adjust positioning of said boards relative to saidcurved surface.
 13. A board mounting system as claimed in claim 12wherein said end caps are secured to said support by cooperating maleand female interlock parts, the female interlock parts being enlarged ina horizontal plane relative to the male interlock parts to allow alateral shifting of the male interlock parts within the female interlockparts.
 14. Portable stairs comprising riser means and stair treads whichsecure to said riser means, each of said stair treads comprising atleast one elongated board and a pair of end caps which cap opposite endsof said board and which mount said board to said riser means. 15.Portable stairs as claimed in claim 13 wherein said riser meanscomprises a pair of risers one at each of the opposite ends of the boardand held in an upright position by securing to said end caps. 16.Portable stairs as claimed in claim 13 wherein each of said stair treadscomprises a pair of said boards held side by side with one another bysaid end caps.
 17. Portable stairs as claimed in claim 15 wherein eachof said boards has an extruded resin construction, each board beingsubstantially hollow and open at the opposite ends thereof, said endcaps providing a decorative covering cap over the opposite ends of saidboards.
 18. Portable stairs as claimed in claim 16 wherein said end capshave a plastic molded construction.
 19. Portable stairs as claimed inclaim 17 wherein each end cap comprises a generally U shaped channel.